Mad Horse Theatre Continues BY LOCAL Play Reading Series, Now thru 2/9

Mad Horse Theatre Company continues its new play reading series, BY LOCAL, with two new works by Maine playwrights: Sin Don't Enter Into It by Cullen McGough, and Ghosts of Ocean House by Michael Kimball. Both plays will receive two performances; all are held at All performances are held at the Mad Horse Theater in the Hutchins School, 24 Mosher Street, South Portland. Sin Don't Enter Into It, directed by Christine Louise Marshall, will be performed today, February 6 and Saturday February 8 at 7:30 pm. Ghosts of Ocean House, directed by Kat Moraros, will be performed Friday 2/7, 7:30 pm and Sunday February 9 at 2:00 pm. Pay-what-you-can tickets (a suggested $10 donation) are available at the door, cash and check only.

Cullen McGough's Sin Don't Enter Into It takes place in 1936 when Owensboro, Kentucky was rocked by the brutal murder of Lischia Edwards by a young illiterate black man, Rainey Bathea. Despite confessing to the murder, what happened to Rainey next sparked one of the strangest trials in American history. Caught up in election-year politics, the young man found himself accused of rape by a prosecutor eager to exploit a loophole in Kentucky law. If convicted of rape instead of murder, Rainey would face a blood-thirsty mob at a public hanging rather than a private execution. Hampered with a divided defense team, damning evidence and no chance of acquittal, Rainey was presented with a terrible choice: confess to a rape he didn't commit and hang, or confess to murder and become one of the first men to sit in the newly-invented electric chair.

Cullen McGough is a playwright from Portland Maine. His work has been performed at the Maine Playwright's Festival, the D.C. Source Festival, the Freeport Players theater, the N.H. Player's Ring and the King of Crows Theatre festival. Cullen's full-length play BERNARD was a finalist for the 2012 O'Neil National Playwrights Conference and also performed locally at Mayo St. Arts in Portland. Cullen is a founding member and regular contributor to the Crowbait Club, a new work showcase performed monthly in Portland. Cullen recently joined the 2014 Maine Playwright's Festival as the Executive Producer.

Michael Kimball's Ghosts of Ocean House concerns estranged remnants of a once aristocratic New England family, who must spend one week for each of ten years living together harmoniously-or else lose the house to charity. This is their final week. But the newest family member, a flighty, fragile young bride named Darlene, harbors a dark, mysterious past-as does the quiet old house-and when they come together, ghosts begin awakening.

Michael Kimball is a playwright, novelist, and screenwriter who teaches popular fiction and scriptwriting at Stonecoast MFA in Creative Writing program (USM). He's written four novels, including the London Times' bestseller UNDONE, and several screenplays for movie and television production companies. His most recent play, DUCK AND COVER, was staged in Portsmouth, NH, and Westbrook, ME, in 2013 and was named "Best Play" at the Northern Writes Play Festival in Bangor, Maine. GHOSTS OF OCEAN HOUSE won the 2006 Gary Newton Playwriting Award (Players Ring, Portsmouth, NH) and was nominated for the Mystery Writers of America's 2007 Edgar Award.